Eventually, most of us will be forced into adopting low-tech lifestyles, so best to start preparing now. This article also makes the obvious — but taboo — observation that renewables will not support economic growth. -- RF

Why Russia Shut Down NED FrontsThe neocon-flagship Washington Post fired a propaganda broadside at President Putin for shutting down the Russian activities of the National Endowment for Democracy, but left out key facts like NED's U.S. government funding, its quasi-CIA role, and its plans for regime change in Moscow.

Jimmy Carter: The U.S. Is an "Oligarchy With Unlimited Political Bribery"Former president Jimmy Carter said Tuesday on the nationally-syndicated radio show The Thom Hartmann Program that the United States is now an "oligarchy" in which "unlimited political bribery" has created "a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors." Both Democrats and Republicans, Carter said, "look upon this unlimited money as a great benefit to themselves."

Qais al-Khazali, leader of Iranian-backed paramilitary group Asaib Ahl al-Haq, said the anti-IS campaign had failed because of an American agenda to redraw the map of the Middle East along new borders.Ten Indications Iran Wants Business, Not Bombs

## Intelligence/security/internet/cyberwar ##Rights group urges Kuwait to rethink new DNA testing lawA new law requiring all Kuwaiti citizens and residents to provide DNA samples to the authorities violates the right to personal privacy and should be promptly amended, according to an international rights group.

Philippines' Terror-Inducing 'War on Terror'A largely forgotten front in George W. Bush's "global war on terror" has been the Philippines where military campaigns to crush various rebel groups and political activists have led to charges of extrajudicial killings, torture and other war crimes.

Weatherford Raises Layoffs Target to 11,000Responding to continued weakness in the North American oilfield services market, Weatherford International said Thursday it would revise the number of planned layoffs to 11,000.

## Propaganda ##NYT Enforces Ukraine 'Group Think'Determined to enforce the "group think" on Ukraine, the editors of The New York Times lashed out at Russia for urging an expanded inquiry into last year's MH-17 shoot-down. But the Times won't join calls for the U.S. government to release its intelligence on the tragedy.